


Symphony of Summer

by Rehlia



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Falling In Love, Fic Trade, Fluff, Gift Fic, Oneshot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-23
Updated: 2017-12-23
Packaged: 2019-02-19 01:29:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13113054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rehlia/pseuds/Rehlia
Summary: A brief story of how Sans falls in love with Chaya.





	Symphony of Summer

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kamiieru](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=kamiieru).



> This is my part of an art/story trade with kamiieru! I'm very excited to trade with them x3 I hope you like it, kamii ❤
> 
> [Read on tumblr here.](https://rehlia.tumblr.com/post/168857464915/symphony-of-summer)

The snow lay thick and fat on the ground and the branches of the pines, weighing them down and giving the forest the appearance of a frosted cake, of whipped cream and sugar layered on top of chocolate and pistachio underneath. A dream of something sugary and sweet, that was nevertheless relentlessly cold - and dangerous, if proper precautions to protect the body from the freezing temperatures weren’t taken.

It wasn’t anything special per say. This was Snowdin Forest, and thick layers of snow, along with low temperatures, were par for the course. 

The weather in the Underground was strictly regulated into clearly defined zones that were built on the differences that had already been there when the monsters first explored the caverns. A temperate zone in New Home and Home, now the Ruins, with temperatures that were kept at something close to a median at all times, bland and inoffensive and livable for almost any type of monster there was. Heat in Hotland thanks to the volcanic activity in this region, further expanded on my monster magic to allow those needing high temperatures for survival and those who merely fared better in warmth to coexist peacefully. Humidity throughout Waterfall, with a muggy part close to Hotland, and a clammy one next to Snowdin. 

And the natural cold of the Snowdin region had been supported until it became a land of perpetual winter. 

It was pretty of course, the entire Underground was, but Chaya felt it was lacking. 

Specifically, there was nothing resembling _summer_ , and that bothered her. 

Sure, there was warmth in Hotland, but that region of the Underground was effectively barren, red earth and hulking machinery and magma streams dominating the scenery there. Then there was the warmer part of Waterfall, with echo flowers and fireflies near the entrance to Hotland. That came a little closer, but it was still not what Chaya was used to in terms of a true summer. 

She missed how green and lively it was, how it turned the sky into a shade of blue that was unique to this specific season, how the smell of mown grass and flowers and fruit would permeate the air whenever she was doing her chores in the garden. 

It was special, something that made her happy. 

Most of the monsters of the underground had never seen it, Sans hadn’t seen it, and that was a tragedy. 

At least that was how Sans understood Chaya’s frequent complaints on the matter, even though he obviously had no real way of understanding what she was talking about. In the abstract yes, he knew that he was missing things just by having spent his whole life in the Underground. Everyone knew that. But he also wasn’t sure how to make himself care. What was so special about this summer anyway? 

It didn’t sound any different from what he already knew he was missing out on - blue skies, green grass, trees, flowers, the works. Even babybones knew that this was the basics of what they had lost when the monsters were banished from the surface. Why fret about it? 

He was far more invested in the stars. Those he found scientifically fascinating and pretty on top of that, so it was far easier for him to see why he should care. 

But Chaya insisted, and Frisk insisted that Chaya was right insisting. Sans didn’t quite get why that meant that he should get a private tour by Chaya, but they both insisted on that too.

Oh well. 

“We’re almost there,” Chaya told him excitedly, weaving her way through the trees of Snowdin Forest. “Just a little bit further.”

“snow worries, i can keep going,” Sans replied calmly. 

She made a sound halfway between laughing and groaning, causing Sans to grin wider. Heh. Classic. That was a good noise, just the right balance between appreciating the humour and wishing for him to stop. There was a fine line between those two, and Sans took great care to stay precisely on that line at all times, always. 

That was part of his technique, of the _finesse_ that went into his jokes. 

Not that anyone would ever appreciate that. 

He wouldn't want them to; making it appear casual and thoughtless was half the fun. Besides, some people would probably think it was weird for him to spend so much thought and effort on his puns, so it was easier to keep that part a secret. 

“Okay, now close your eyes!” Chaya told him, turning back to him with an eager expression on her face. 

“eye really hope this will be worth the effort,” he quipped. 

“Sans!”

“heh. okay.”

He couldn't help it. Teasing people with his puns was always fun. Teasing Chaya was especially fun though. Her naturally kind disposition made it even more rewarding when he managed to push her buttons a bit. Not in a mean way, but just… yeah. There was something about it that he liked. She never reacted harshly. It got a bit more of emotion out of her though, something different. It was fun to tickle that out of her. Special.

Something in him paused when he felt her hand wrap around his. Her skin was cool from the low temperature of the forest, but still much warmer than his own bones. It felt soft.

“I couldn’t make it all like I wanted it to,” Chaya explained, leading him through the forest by his hand now. “The sky isn’t there. That’s a big difference. I don’t know how to make one, even though it would add the final touch. The bright blue during day, or when the sun sets… there would be golden light everywhere. It looks like the entire earth is glowing.”

“sounds nice,” Sans admitted quietly. 

Did she miss it? The surface, and everything on it? Probably. Even when she talked about the negative things, what drove her to Mount Ebott, he never got the impression that she only harboured bad feelings for the place. That wouldn’t have been in her nature anyway of course. Still, there had been happy stories too, about gardens and growing things and dreams she’d had about the future.

He felt bad. He didn’t want her to be unhappy down here. She deserved better. Better than being trapped in a cave, better than…

Well. 

He didn’t want his thoughts to go there right now. 

“But I got the rest right,” Chaya continued, her voice more cheerful again. “The flowers and the grass and the trees… I even got some herbs to grow, to get the smell right. You’ll see. I think you’ll like it.”

“i’m sure you _rose_ to the challenge,” he threw in, taking care to stress the sentence just right to get the double meaning across. 

“Sans, be serious now!” 

“heh.”

She squeezed his hand as she pulled him along. Maybe he should do another one. Just to… but no, it’s no good to overdo it with the puns either. There’s a balance to these things. 

“ok.”

For a short while, they walked quietly through the forest. Sans had explored the forest, especially the parts around his sentry station, quite a bit. So even with his eyes closed he had a relatively clear idea just where they were. While the cave systems of the Underground weren’t small, they weren’t so big that it was impossible to learn them by heart either. Especially not when he spent his entire life here. 

He thought he knew which clearing Chaya was leading him to right now; it was one he had sometimes gone to when he wanted a nap. Not a big clearing, but sizeable enough to move around in, protected by the trees and bushes growing around it. The dense undergrowth protected the clearing from the chilly winds that might blast over other open spaces in Snowdin and the surrounding areas and gave it a sense of privacy and detachment. When Sans went there in the past, being there always made him feel as if he were the only monster in the Underground, but in a good, peaceful way. It was a calm place. 

That just made it fitting for Chaya to choose, didn’t it? 

He could imagine her being happy there, surrounded by the plants, even if he couldn’t yet imagine how she might have changed it. But really, how big could the difference be? He had seen plants before. He had seen some flowers before. And he had seen pictures of fields before. So all he had to do was put these impressions together in his mind. Simple. Then he knew what was expecting him.

He’d still pretend to be impressed and surprised and happy of course. 

When someone went through the effort of preparing something nice for him, he didn’t want to be rude and spoil the fun for the other person. Chaya in particular didn’t deserve that. She did this out of a genuine desire to make him happy, so it would be pretty shitty to act as if he didn’t care. He could just - 

“You can open your eyes now!” Chaya told him excitedly, coming to a stop. 

Okay, here we go, he thought. 

He blinked open his eye sockets, already preparing to shift his grin so Chaya would see the happiness he thought should be there on his face. 

What happened instead was that he felt his expression slip out of his control completely. His mouth fell open slightly, his eye sockets widened, every bit of carefully cultivated calm was replaced by genuine, overwhelmed emotion. 

He had been wrong when he thought he could simply imagine what this would look like. That it wouldn’t surprise him, that he would have to fake his reaction. Sans almost didn’t recognise it, but he had been right. It was the same clearing he had been thinking about, but changed so thoroughly that only his good knowledge of the area allowed him to recognise it at all. 

The snow on the clearing and on the surrounding bushes and trees had been cleared away, leaving it green without even the slightest hint of white. For a second Sans was confused about how Chaya had managed to clear the snow from the higher branches of the trees as well, but perhaps Papyrus had helped - his brother could manipulate his own gravity in order to jump much higher than ordinary, after all. The rest of it was clearly done by Chaya herself though. The dark, murky green that was natural for the plants of Snowdin Forest were changed. Instead of this wintry colour, they were showing brighter and more lively shades of green, different hues that blended together into a tapestry of life as the perfect background for what was clearly the main event. 

Flowers were blooming among the verdant grass of the clearing; buttercups and daisies, poppies and bluebells and other species that Sans had never seen in his life and couldn’t name. Big, bright orange and yellow blossoms with a multitude of slim, elongated petals. The most delicate flowers in powder blue, each smaller than the tip of his distal phalanges. Round and pink blooms with a dark centre, others in the same colour but the shape of a bell. Delicate white ones shaped like stars. Long stalks with clusters of pale, purple blooms that emitted a gentle fragrance that seemed soothing and relaxing to him.

The fragrance of the whole clearing was another thing that stood out to him. He hadn’t noticed it while walking up to it, but now that he was standing at the edge of the clearing, it was unmistakable. He could both see and smell the herbs that Chaya had spoken about, that she specifically chose for this. For him. 

Rosemary and basil, mint and thyme, chamomile and marjoram. The fresh and spicy notes in those smells combined peasantly with the sweetness of the flowers. 

Sans was overwhelmed and at a complete loss for what to say. 

He hadn’t expected something like this. 

It was so beautiful, it smelled so nice, it was so obvious how much _effort_ and _care_ had gone into this. All just so he could imagine what summer was like. 

All for _him_.

_His_.

He had no words. Even if he had wanted to make a joke out of this, he wouldn’t have been able to recall a single one. No play on words presented itself. 

“wow,” he breathed out, because that was all his mind was capable of producing right now. 

It was his awe expressed in a single vocal, and it felt inadequate, but it was all he had. 

“Do you like it?” Chaya asked, almost shyly. She looked more radiant against the verdant flora, the shades of green and yellow in particular framing her like a painting.

Sans felt a strange sensation in his chest. The jittering of a branch in the wind, the flutter of bird wings taking off, a butterfly landing on the tip of an outstretched finger. 

Something soft. Trembling.

“y-yeah,” he managed to choke out. “yeah, ‘s real pretty.” 

Chaya beamed at him, clearly happy with his assessment. 

“Do you want to make flower crowns together? I can show you how it works…” She was still giving him that wide, open smile, her genuine happiness at his reaction shining through. 

“sure.” 

He was still scrambling for words. This wasn’t enough, he had to tell her. He had to make sure she knew how beautiful it was, how much he appreciated this. How much it meant to him that she would go through all this trouble just for his sake. 

But he couldn’t. His skull was completely empty. 

Sans didn’t often feel his wits leaving him. He would appreciate it simply for the rarity, if it didn’t leave him scrambling so much at precisely the moment where he wanted nothing more to be his usual, collected self. 

Chaya led him towards the middle of the clearing, careful not to step on any of the flowers. That wasn’t easy, since they were everywhere, but she managed anyway. He followed her steps exactly, not trusting himself to manage the same feat. 

“Okay, so you start like this…” Chaya began once they had both sat down in the centre of the clearing. She was plucking flowers from her right and left, taking the stems as well instead of just the top parts. Out of those stems, she began weaving a sort of braid that held the blossoms of the flowers in place, facing outwards. 

He found it difficult to listen to her. His thoughts kept circling in his skull without ever quite reaching a concrete destination, a perpetuum mobile without purpose, moving for the sake of moving. The deft movements of her fingers on the fragile plants was hypnotising to him, causing his thoughts to swirl even more.

Up, over, around, then from the beginning, and the braid was forming. 

Sans reached out to pluck some flowers for himself, to try and follow her lead, not wanting her to notice how terribly distracted he suddenly was. 

Up, over, around… no, wait. This looked wrong, but why? 

“You forgot the starting braid,” Chaya said gently when the weave suddenly fell apart between his phalanges, some of the flowers getting stuck between his joints. She giggled at the sight, but still helped him getting them out. Both her fingers and the flowers tickled his hands when she removed the blooms and he could feel his skull getting warm. 

“yeah,” he mumbled, staring at both of their fingers.

What is _wrong_ with you? he admonished himself. 

“Here, it only looks complicated. You start like this, then you go on here…” Chaya hadn't let go of him. She kept speaking while her hands helped his getting the motions right, twisting them gently into the correct positions until he had half of a finished flower crown resting in his lap. “See?”

She finally drew back, and he could see her watching him intently out of the corners of his eye sockets. For some reason, he couldn't make himself look at her. Even so, it was clear that she expected him to go on by himself now. 

Could he? He kind of didn't trust his mental and physical capabilities right now. His mind was already a mess. His fingers seemed right on the track to joining it. 

Up, over, around… 

Suddenly it was easy. 

“There you go,” Chaya encouraged him. He felt himself smile, without any conscious input of his own. 

For a short while, they both worked quietly. Sans felt his thoughts settle, slowly coming down from the sudden bout of agitation that had gripped him. He welcomed it, it was unsettling to feel himself so out of it. Now that he was calmer, he managed to look up when his crown was finished. He looked at Chaya, taking in the way she worked on her own flower crown. 

She seemed right at home, clearly belonging amidst flowers and greenery. 

Their eyes met when she finished her crown too. 

“How about we trade?” she suggested, holding her crown up. 

“if you want,” Sans said. He couldn't help but notice that hers was much better made than his. Maybe that wasn't surprising considering it was his first, but still. That wasn't exactly a fair trade. 

Chaya didn't seem to mind though. She placed the crown on his head carefully, making sure none of the blossoms or leaves hung in his eye sockets. The crown felt light on his head, almost weightless.

“It suits you! Your turn.”

And she sat back and patiently closed her eyes, waiting for him to move. 

For one single moment, he allowed himself to merely look at her. Take in her relaxed features, the way her hair framed her face, the way her body shifted with each breath. He watched her and listened to the insistent tremble that seemed determined to make a home right inside his soul. Only a moment, but it was more than enough. 

With just as much care as she had shown him, he placed the flower crown upon her head, making sure that it would sit right and not prod or hurt her. 

“How is it?” she asked, blinking her eyes open. 

“it sure _leafs_ an impression,” he told her, because that’s what he did and he had already gone far too long without making a pun. 

“Sans, please,” she laughed, trying to look as if she was annoyed. This was good though. Having reestablished that he rarely let an opportunity pass to poke fun at something made it far easier to tell the truth. 

Well, maybe with one last word exchanged. 

“i love it.”


End file.
